At this point, everyone seems to be on board with the belief that Ford struck gold with the Focus RS. The hot hatch is so in demand that Ford has had to delay deliveries or cancel orders altogether just so the hot hatch’s production can keep up with the demand for the car. The most recent development apparently involves Ford having to delay a number of orders for the 2016 Focus RS because the firm’s production facility in German couldn’t keep up with the demand before its scheduled summer factory maintenance shutdown.

According to The Truth About Cars, roughly 220 orders of the 2016 Focus RS have been cancelled and would be moved into the 2017MY with priorities being placed on those who would have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the hot hatch. It’s also interesting to note that a Los Angeles-based dealership that had three of its pending Focus RS orders cancelled were told that the delay in production was tied into issues in Europe that included the company’s plant in Germany, which isn’t scheduled to reopen until August 25, 2016.

A lot of people, specifically those who had their orders cancelled or delayed, are understandably peeved at having to wait longer to take delivery of their cars. That’s the downside of this delay. The silver lining is the hot hatch’s incredible popularity and the staggering public demand for the car is a sign that Ford did something right with the Focus RS. If for nothing else, the Blue Oval can take comfort knowing that the delay is happening largely because there are too many people who want to buy the Focus RS and there’s just not enough space and resources to accommodate them in time for a summer release.

Only time will tell if this delay stretches out longer than anticipated.

Why it matters

I’d like to think that this is the kind of problem that Ford doesn’t mind having, at least when you compare it to what other automakers are going through these days. Just ask Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Compared to what they’re going through, the Blue Oval’s dilemma with the demand for the Focus RS is a happy problem.

If there’s anything that people can blame on Ford, it’s that the company should have made the proper production adjustments when it became evident that the demand for the Focus RS would be higher than expected. Remember, this isn’t the first delay the Focus RS has had. The company’s first batch of deliveries in the U.S. was delayed and similar cases have happened in Europe, including in U.K. where Ford had to add 1,000 more units to the market’s initial 4,000-unit allocation. The point is that contingencies should have been made early to prevent more delays from happening. That’s on Ford.

Even though some customers are understandably upset about the delay, there’s really no other cure to it than exercising a little more patience. The planned summer factory maintenance shutdown is important for obvious reasons and those that got caught in the scheduling delay will just have to wait a little bit longer to get their hands on their Focus RS units.